Changes in microbiome composition during ontogeny and dispersal of the coral boring sponge Thoosa mismalolli.

ABSTRACT: Dispersal is an important life history trait that plays a key role in the demography and evolution of species. We employed a combined approach of DNA sequencing and transmission electron microscopy to examine the changes in the microbiome during the ontogeny and dispersal of the coral-excavating sponge Thoosa mismalolli. The results show that sponge can acquired their associated bacteria via both vertical (VT) and horizontal transmission (HT). Adult sponges, brooding larvae, and early free-swimming sponge larvae harbor a similar high-diversity microbial assemblage, dominated by Proteobacteria and Chloroflexi, which change throughout the larval dispersal phase. Larvae collected offshore showed a reorganization of their microbiome with a significant reduction of the dominance of inherited ba

SUBMITTER: Bautista-Guerrero E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11742657 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature